It has become common practice to mount one part of a multipart electrical connector to a mounting panel and to detachably mate a second part of the connector with the first part. When the two parts are mated it is usually desired that they remain so for long periods of time. To accomplish such a result reliance is usually made upon the combined insertion-extraction forces of the individual electrical contacts of the connectors. However, in some applications it is desired to use a positive locking force to insure that the two parts of the connector remain mated until manually released.
To compound the problem several other considerations must be considered. In actual practice it is desired to mount the connectors in close proximity to each other and thus bulky locking arrangements are not acceptable. A second consideration is that the cable hoods of the various connectors have at least two differing heights and thus when it is desired to interchange connectors having different size hoods the locking mechanism must be able to accept the different size with a minimum of effort and, if possible, without requiring removal of the permanently mounted connector portion. Still a third constraint is that the locking mechanism must be inexpensive to manufacture.
These and other objects and problems are solved by a retaining clip which is a simple molded plastic part and designed with folding sections which snap tight around the mated connector housing. The clip is molded with thin live plastic hinges and may be opened from the top by a positive outward movement of one of the folded sections. Until the top section is manually released the clip asserts inward pressure on the mated connector portions thereby insuring their continued mated relationship. Since the retaining clip is constructed from thin plastic and releasable from the outside of the top section the connectors can be secured on close centers. An adjustment is provided at the base of the clip for adjusting the height of the clip to accommodate the different size hoods anticipated.